Barre smears Morial on his way out

Sympathy for former Mayor Marc Morial may be in short supply these days, but he sure got a raw deal after his old pal Stan "Pampy" Barre blabbed to the press.

Shortly before heading off to start a five-year stretch in the federal pen, Barre could not resist a prolonged whine about Carl Barbier, the judge who sent him up the river.

Barre averred that the sentence was much too harsh and that Barbier was "one pissed-off, fed-up judge."

If that wasn't true when Barre said it, it certainly was after his remarks appeared in print. But just in case Barbier was not sufficiently irritated, Barre's sister Terry had a letter to the editor published the very next day.

Terry Barre, who was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case, agreed with her brother that Barbier had laid it on too thick.

Barbier then ordered that, since Pampy Barre had disclosed details of his plea agreement, the entire case record should be unsealed.

It included a letter U.S. Attorney Jim Letten wrote to Barbier requesting leniency for Barre on account of his services as a fink. Those services included telling prosecutors about payments to Morial, Letten wrote.

Barre, when he summoned reporters to the woe-is-me in his kitchen, had no intention of fingering Morial. He is, by his own account, reviled in some circles as a rat these days, but at least, it seemed, he hadn't betrayed his former patron. Pampy Barre must have been aghast when Barbier blew his cover.

Not that we need worry about Pampy Barre. He ripped off the city royally, and taxpayers are not going to feel too sorry for him. But it hardly seems fair for Barbier to allow Morial to be smeared, when he is in no position to prove his innocence.

The feds have spent six years investigating City Hall in the Morial years, and have nailed several relatives and associates. But Morial, now head of the National Urban League, has not been indicted and almost certainly never will be, because the clock runs out after five years on most federal offenses. Prosecutors have a little longer if the IRS has been defrauded, but there is no indication that Morial is vulnerable on that score.

To judge from comments appended to stories on our affiliated Web site, plenty of citizens will never believe that Morial did no wrong. They will only be confirmed in their views now. If a charge had been brought, at least Morial could have fought it. This way, there is no need to bother with such niceties as due process.

Pampy Barre's tip was evidently a pretty wooly one anyway. "His cooperation included information about cash payments to former Mayor Marc Morial" was all Letten wrote on the subject.

What that means is impossible to say, but it probably doesn't mean that Pampy Barre told the feds he put illicit bucks in Morial's hand. If Pampy Barre had first-hand knowledge of a mayoral felony, prosecutors would surely have made a meal of it.

Although Pampy Barre cannot have intended to implicate Morial when he decided to talk to reporters, it is something of a mystery what he did hope to achieve. If a reduced sentence is his goal, badmouthing the judge is an odd tactic.

Pampy Barre would, in any case, have to spill some more beans first so that prosecutors could put in a good word with Barbier, and it may be he has no more to spill. He has already put former City Councilman Oliver Thomas behind bars, and claimed to have paid off School Board member Una Anderson's husband.

Nothing less than Morial's scalp would probably be needed for Pampy Barre to get a break. His newspaper interview, replete with paeans to himself, probably left Barbier regretting that he didn't impose a longer sentence anyway.

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James Gill is a staff writer. He can be reached at 504.826.3318 or at jgill@timespicayune.com.